We're In!

Girls, on Friday night we had ice cream in your honor.  We received word that our paperwork and your paperwork has been filed with the IBESR in Haiti.  (Your brother was unclear as to what it all meant, and for a moment thought we had purchased an RV for the family which was causing quite a stir!)  Though it really just means more waiting and a long trial of papers to be signed, we are thrilled to be one step closer to getting you here with us.  After a long summer of waiting for IBESR to re-open, and being told that everything might change now, we are glad to experience God's blessing yet again as we are grandfathered in with no new requirements.  We are counting the days until we come to meet you and praying that the days after that will not be long before we get to pick you up and bring you back to Virginia!!

His Ways

August 1 has come and gone.  IBESR (the social services agency in Haiti) is still closed.  The promise of an August 1 re-open has come and gone, and a new date of September 1 has taken its place.  Another week has come and gone and we have no movement, no update, no breakthrough.  There have been no emails or letters to indicate that things here on this earth are moving me closer to my daughters. My October trip to meet the girls turned to a November trip.  The lawyer has not completed the social history for the girls.  By all accounts, we are at a stand still.  By earthly standards we have the right to be frustrated, angry, annoyed, disgruntled and many other things.  But, we are looking to a higher standard.  One that tells us that the same God who matched us with these beautiful girls, is the God who is currently providing for them, and caring for them.  He is the God who operates outside for our time.  He is the God who meets all of our needs according to HIS riches in Heaven.
So we are resting in His ways, looking forward to His gift of November 13th,  asking Him for patience, and praising Him for His constant love for the girls and for us.  We are really learning that His ways are not our ways.  WOW!  We have a God who cares enough about us to bring the rich blessing of two new daughters into our lives and while we wait for his promise of them to be fulfilled, he teaches us things we need to know about who he is and how we should see him-things that will bless us and make our lives more full.  What a mighty God we serve!!!

Silence

The blog has been quiet for a while.  There have not been new updates.  There are not new advances to report.  There has been waiting.  There has been silence.  But, there has also been growth and peace.  Since May, I have seen you both grow.  Sleyka, you smile more.  Your sweet little baby face is growing and changing into the face of a little lady.  You are getting taller, and you look more like your sister than ever before.  You have learned that you are in a safe place where there are ladies who love you and care for you. You have been given new clothes and small gifts, and over time you are learning to receive those things from others.  Sunshine, you have grown taller, and more mature as well.  You have learned to bring joy and a smile to others, no mater what the circumstance are.  You have learned that you have a family, though that might not make sense yet.  You have learned that we will come for you, though it is hard to know when.  You have met a lady from our church who will one day be your Sunday School teacher, though you were unable to understand that when she held you.  But maybe you sensed it, because you smiled for her, and brought her joy.

While you have done all of that, your siblings here have been working hard to raise money to send to your orphanage to help improve things there.  God has blessed them by allowing them to be involved in His work.  They have watched dogs, done chores, completed projects, and raised awareness about the needs in Croix-de-Bouquets.  By the end of the summer they will send $1180.00 to the orphanage.

While they have been working on that, my heart has been growing.  Miss Emily sends me pictures of you that tell me the story of your life in Haiti.  I am preparing to come and meet you in two months, and then again three months later to bring your Nana to meet you.  I am not learning much about Haiti right now.  I am not learning much about you right now, but I am learning much about our God.  Just today, as I was praying for you and persistently asking God to bring you home in Spring 2013, I learned more about our God.  There are times when I wonder if it is really possible that you would be home so soon when others seem to continue to hit walls in their process.  the verse the Lord gave to me today was one that has always been a favorite but today I heard it with fresh eyes.  Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord will all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all of your ways acknowledge him, and He will make your paths straight."  I always knew we should trust in the Lord.  But today I heard the second part.  When I lean on my understanding, I realize that it could take along time for you to be here with us.  But when I recognize my limited, human understanding for what it is:  a partial picture of the situation colored by my sin nature, then I can allow God to have the space he deserves, and I can begin to trust in HIM with my whole heart.

So, tonight, I am heading into August.  Tomorrow the IBESR is supposed to open.  Tomorrow our paper work is supposed to be complete and ready to be submitted.  In two months I am supposed to board a plane with Daddy to come and hold you. And next spring you are supposed to come home to your Forever Family.   I have no confirmation from anyone on this earth  that those things will happen.  But I am confident in our God that all is well.  I am trusting HIS ways, even in the silence.

It Takes a Child To Raise Money for the Village

Several years ago we were all captivated by Hillary Clinton's slogan, "It take a village to raise a child."  The Yoho kids are attempting to flip that phrase on its head this summer.  A short time back re received an email from CCAI, an adoption agency partnering with orphanages in Haiti, among other places, to match children with prospective families.  They were requesting that each adopting family consider a $100 donation to help outfit the new creche (infant room) at the orphanage that would double their capacity for babies at Lifeline. Our kids took the challenge seriously and began to devise schemes for raising money.  Their first thoughts of making a brick factory in the back yard, setting up a stand to sell their own art work, and then a general scouring of the house for any "sale-able" items did not prove to be fruitful.  We decided to have a family meeting and Ryan and I gave some guidance to them regarding their business plan.  It was determined that dog-sitting and other small jobs would be the best way to raise funds.    
Within two weeks of writing their business pan they have raised $248.00.   The day after they formed up their plan we received a call asking us to watch a dog for a week.  We had a great time with this little guy and earned a generous contribution toward our cause.
The next weekend the children set up a snack and drink stand at our family yard sale and earned a considerable chunk of money for their cause.  Abigail completed a project for her uncle to add to the total and a very sweet family heard about our efforts ad made a donation to help us out as well.

Mrs Clinton felt that it took an entire village to raise a child, and she might be right.  However, I think God showed me this week that with His power, maybe it take children to raise up a village.

Room For Two More

Many people have heard that we are adopting, and they start thinking logistics.  Their questions often center around the vehicle and the home.  Here are a few quotes and questions we have been hearing.....

"Are you going to get a HUGE van now?"  (maybe, but I hope not!)
"Where will they all sleep?"  (in beds, except on Fridays when they will all crash in the hallway in sleeping bags just like they do now!)
"Do you have enough room for that many children?" (yep, sure do)
"You'll need a bigger kitchen table!"  (nope, it is part of our weight loss plan....never sit down while eating in the kitchen!)
"Which room will they sleep in?"  (the one that their sisters are working hard to prepare for them)

Six children seems like quite a crowd to most folks, but the funny thing is that here, it seems like just the right number.  God has stretched our hearts to love all six of our children.  He has ensured that the house that we bought 8 years ago would be big enough to grow up with our family, even when we thought our family was done growing.  He knew how many beds would be needed, he knew how much space would be required inside on a rainy day, he knew where they would all fit in when they arrived in the family.  He planned for it, and made it happen.  An eight person family seems just perfect to us now!!

Just to prove that we have thought about answers to all of these questions, here is a picture of the "room for two" that is waiting for our littlest girls....(their bunk beds are in the garage awaiting assembly thanks to a very generous gift from Auntie Julie and Uncle Dean and the Milne cousins)

French Makes Me Happy

Today we learned that our dossier is now en francais.  C'est tres bien!  J'aime le francais maintenant!
(It's very good! I love French now!)
 Today I love French because all of our dossier documents are now written in French.  They have been sent to Chicago and there they will be legalized at the Haitian consulate.  16 years ago when I graduated high school I had no idea what I would do with my French.  In fact, I was a little disappointed that I had chosen to pursue it because it was becoming obvious that Spanish would have been much more useful for an elementary school teacher.  The funny thing is that God knew that I would only be a teacher in public school for three years.  He also knew that one day my 2 little girls would need a mom and I would be that mom for them.  God knew that if I had invested some years into learning French (6 years, to be precise) that I would be infinitely more well equipped to understand them, learn their language, and understand them when we met for the first time. Wow!  God, thank you for not listening to me when I beg you for what is not good for me,  Thanks you for not giving in to me when I whine about hard things that I do not understand.  Thank you for blessing me-I do not deserve your gifts.  

How God Knocked My Socks Off Today

Naomi Sunshine and Joanna Sleyca, today I have to tel you about the God who created you.  Your God is a mighty God.  I hope that every day of your life I will tell you of his mighty works, but today, I will especially tell you of his mighty works.
Yesterday I started teaching the book of James to your brothers and sisters.  There is a verse in the first chapter that talks about asking God for wisdom.  James then reminds the church that they have to ask with faith, otherwise they are like a wave that gets tossed back and forth in the sea and God will not give them anything.  We talked about how God wants us to trust him and have faith.  After that lesson I really started praying that God would have you home, in your forever home, by next spring, even sooner!!
His response to me was AWESOME!
Here is the order of events that occurred today:
1.  I sent a message asking Emily if the orphanage had a way to receive shoe boxes as Christmas gifts if they were packed by our church in Virginia for you and your friends.
2.  I was made aware of a new policy in Haiti that says that no new dossiers will be accepted until June 1, 2012 in order to clear out the ones they have right now and be able to speed the process of getting children home to their forever families sooner.  That seems like bad news, but our Dossier won't be ready until right around June 1, so God has his PERFECT timing for us-we'll be among the first dossiers to go through the new streamlined process! (Maybe I had better start to get your room ready!!)
3.  A dear friend from Grace Bible Church, and the woman who may one day be your Sunday school teacher, is heading to Haiti and since she knows about you girls she plans to come see you and hold you this summer.
4.  Emily confirmed that I could easily get my shoe boxes to you if I could just ship them to Kansas.  She said 100 boxes is perfect because right now there are 97 children at Lifeline and that the children would LOVE receiving them.
5.  Mrs Stapleton emailed to say that she has been in touch with David and in planning her trip to see you.  I'll send a gift to you with her.  She can't wait to meet you!
6.  One of your friends is coming home tomorrow with her forever family. (Nerloune)
7.  Two of your friends, Neissa and Dina, were officially adopted today so they will come home soon.
8.  Your sister wrote out a business plan to sell snacks and drinks this weekend at a yard sale to help raise money for Lifeline so that more children can gt forever families and have a wonderful home there.

WOW!  What a day.  Our God, my God and your God, showed his power and his might, and his LOVE to us all today.  I will keep writing this story so that one day you girls will sit on the couch with me and we will remember how hard we prayed with FAITH and how God honored our hearts desires to be together.  In the meantime, "I will glory in my redeemer."